News I Break Horses

Swedish duo I Break Horses have recently teamed up with Bella Union for the release of their debut album, ‘Heart’. Peter Bloxham has a chat with Maria Lindén to find out more.

You’ve been through a lot to get ‘Heart’ finished. What are your prevailing emotions as you wait for it to be released?
I’m excited. It’s a bit of a relief too, that it’s finally done. You live with an album very closely until it’s out there, then you know it’s not possible to change stuff any more, and it’s easier to move on with writing new music, which I have started doing.

What were the challenges of going to Poland to record?
There were a few technical problems with the gear in the studio; at one point the power was cut off for a whole day, language barriers… The whole experience was a bit stressful. I deleted almost everything that was recorded there, took the songs back into the bedroom and started again.

Wow. Well, this project started with bedroom demos, how did you begin to capture your ideas back then?
I always start with finding a specific sound that sets the mood. Mostly I sit down with my synthezisers / guitar and effect pedals for hours until I find something that captures the right feeling and then I develop a song around that.

What was the process of developing these tracks onto the scale we can hear them on the record, did they arrive in the world this size?
Many of the tracks have grown over a long period of time, while others were made in a few hours and are the same as the first bedroom demos. The process is always that I start recording the music and the vocal melodies with some humming or non existant words and then Fredrik writes lyrics to that as soon as I feel that everything else is pretty much complete. I also worked with a co-producer; Jukka Rintamäki, on a couple of tracks which was helpful when finalising the album.
Also, the simple fact that both Fredrik and I have been working full time with our day jobs during this time made the process longer then it could have been.
Fredrik has developed some of the lyrics the same way, gone back and changed some words here and there.

Can you identify a quality that has endured in these songs from their inception as demos onto the finished record?
Yes, to me, that quality is the heart and nerve in the songs.

I understand that it took some time to get the album to sound the way it needed to. How did you know when you’d cracked it?
To me the music is based so much on it’s vibe and atmosphere, so when these elements were there I knew It was right.

Well the album sounds incredibly lush, it’s beautiful. But you ever have moments of doubt, feelings that perhaps you might never quite get there?
Yes definitely! If I ever get to the point where I am completely satisfied I would be very surprised with myself.

Ha, so I gather that having mixes done by Hans Olsson were something of a breakthrough? What did it feel like when you first heard those, what struck you about them?
I was in the studio with Hans during the whole mixing period, being able to explain what I wanted from the mixes and he just got it right. So that too, was a process that led the songs closer to what I initially wanted the demos to be like.

Given all of the development, trials and tribulations: Is there a moment on the album that you’re most proud of?
It varies a bit depending on what mood I’m in, right now I think I’m most proud of the songs ‘Winter Beats’ and ‘Hearts’, they turned out exactly how I wanted them and they were also done in pure inspiration.

Once the album is released, what are you most looking forward to?
Making new songs and creating something special live.

I Break Horses’ debut album ‘Heart’ will be released on 15th August via Bella Union.

I Break Horses - Wired (Demo) by I Break Horses

Taken from the Summer 2011 issue of DIY, available now. For more details click here.